The Town Hall, Museum And Attached Walls And Railings

PENRYN

SW7834SW MARKET STREET 580-1/5/117 The Town Hall, Museum and attached 28/01/49 walls and railings (Formerly Listed as: The Town Hall, Court House and Market Hall)

GV II*

Market hall and later town clock and town lock-up. C17, extended and remodelled 1839. Original building local rubble with granite dressings to close-spaced ground-floor openings with C17 arcades of basket arches; town clock is granite ashlar with moulded cornices, pediments to 2nd stage; square 3rd stage, domed lead roof with weather vane over octagonal clock stage; slightly bowed stuccoed east end with end pilasters, moulded architraves, moulded 1st-floor sill string and moulded entablature to parapet; steep dry slate roof semi-conical at east end. Long rectangular plan extended at either end in C19. Town Hall is 2 storeys with basements on the Lower Market Street side; both street fronts have 7-window range to 1st floor over arcade of 12 basket arches. C20 sashes with glazing bars to 1st floor in openings enlarged in C18 or C19; C20 casements with vertical glazing bars to ground floor openings. C19 clock tower entrance front has central distyle Tuscan porch; 4-panel door, patterned overlight; blind window over and blind windows to narrow flanking 2-storey bays; 2nd stage has deep hollow-chamfered round-arched window with glazing bars and fanlight head; datestone above. Beam ends of ground floor to side walls now capped with slate but formerly visible and slightly projecting and obviously sawn back, were possibly originally corbelled out to carry a pentice roof to shelter the arcades. Extra bays in similar style at east end are possible reused salvaged features from former ends. INTERIOR: Town Hall has early/mid C18 plaster barrel-vaulted ceiling with dentilled cornice, dado panelling and rostrum of similar date with 2 flights of stairs with turned balusters and ramped handrails. Earlier pegged roof structure above ceiling. West end has studded door and latticed and boarded screen of former cell (others removed c1978). East end has mid C19 staircase with turned newel posts. Museum in ground floor of original building, has chamfered oak or elm cross beams supporting very thick floorboards (not visible). Council chamber at east end has tented ceiling. Panelled doors to most openings. The evidence contained in this building suggests that it was built very much as a working market house and was adapted as a town hall in the C18 when the barrel ceiling was inserted. SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: attached granite coped retaining walls at either end with granite steps down from the level of Higher Market Street to Lower Market Street; wrought-iron railings. HISTORY: the Town Hall is on the site of the pre-Reformation Church of St Mary, and for Cornwall is an exceptionally well-preserved example of this type of building.

Listing NGR: SW7848834403